Paul Kelly - The VideoCollection 1985-2008(DVD)

Tue 16th Dec, 2008 in Music Reviews

For those who’ve seen Paul Kelly playing festivals recently, the youthful exuberance on show in his early clips is surprising only because it hasn’t left him as he’s aged. One of this country’s most widely respected musicians, Kelly has written songs that cross racial and generational barriers with ease.

Like all the luminaries he’s been compared to, Kelly is more than his hits. He keeps releasing albums (most recently 2007’s Stolen Apples ), continues to tour, and still tells Australians about their own country with humility and poignance. Songs like To Her Door, Bradman and Dumb Things are deserving classics; just some of the many reasons Paul Kelly is mentioned in the same breath as people like Bruce Springsteen, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. But this collection sits them besides lesser-known songs and rarities, like the PJ Harvey cover he did with Katy Steele.

In the age of YouTube, collections of music videos may seem like a quaintly retro release. However, watching these videos end-to-end on a TV screen is something in itself. No buffering, no waiting to hit the golden search term. It’s all about seeing those early, lightning-fast Lothario glances at the camera from the first clips slowly stretch out to longing looks, until a young Dan Kelly takes over the sex appeal duties in I’ll Be Your Lover.

Everything about this release is traditional – as far as special features go, there’s a slideshow run-through the discography and not much else. It’s all about the music, man. And while it may not thrill everybody to watch over two hours of clips from an artist clearly focused on his music, there’s something here for diehards and beginning apostles alike. It’s a good way to get a slice of Paul Kelly away from the stereo. But with two greatest hits albums and untold other classics, some might see owning the videos as overkill. But if you want to see the clips as they were intended, this is a yet another worthy Paul Kelly release.

Paul Kelly: The Video Collection 1985-2008 is out now on Capitol/EMI.